Opinion / Columnist
Defiance Campaign for Mthwakazi
20 Aug 2019 at 03:18hrs | Views
The arrest and incarceration of Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Khayisa Ndiweni presents all the people of Mthwakazi with a moment for serious reflection and a resolution for a liberation way forward.
Once again we have been caught wanting and unprepared by his incarceration. Many more before him were violated, degraded and humiliated before our very eyes as the people of Mthwakazi. Our response to such tragedies, has always been the same, ranting with unfocused emotions and insults. The results have been the same, the continued rule by conquest over the people of Mthwakazi.
Today, Chief Ndiweni joins thousands and millions of other people of Mthwakazi languishing not only at Khami Prison but throughout the wider Zimbabwean prison. There can be no question therefore that Zimbabwe is but just a concentration camp for all the people of Mthwakazi.
It is the same prison that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives throughout its fourty year history, either through genocide, ethnic cleansing, incarceration at its smaller unit prisons like Khami, Wha-wha, Goromonzi, Chikurubi and others. The likes of Dabengwa, Lookout Masuku, and many others could not escape this prision. Even the dead of Mthwakazi, all of whom still require a decent burial are buried in that Zimbabwe prison.
Are you not shocked therefore to discover that for many years under the leadership of Dr Nkomo, both ZAPU and ZIPRA fought not for the liberation of Mthwakazi, but for the establishment and creation of a monster prison called Zimbabwe that would devour all the people of Mthwakazi without mercy. Not only that, with an army ZIPRA which was second to none in the whole of Southern Africa, ZAPU, for whatever reasons gave up that power in order for its people to be enslaved in a larger Zimbabwe prison.
Today, just like ZAPU there are those who are two-faced. On the one hand they want to be recognised by the Zimbabwe killers and jailers for participating in the Zimbabwean elections. On the other hand they claim to be championing the struggle for Mthwakazi. Shame on them.
How do you participate in your own slavery and at the same time claim to be championing your own freedom from slavery? Is history repeating itself. Was it not ZAPU that was chased out of the so-called Government of National Unity, and then had most of its leaders in that government incarcerated by Emerson Mnangagwa as Minister for Security? When Nkomo was nearly killed and survived only by fleeing Zimbabwe in March 1983, was he not a minister in that government? When Jean Ntutha was gunned down at his Mguza farm during the same year, was he not a Minister of Energy?
What difference would participating in the Zimbabwe elections by these two-faced pretenders make? Under which Constitution would they swear allegiance to? A Zimbabwean Constitution or Mthwakazi Constitution? What a joke, fake politicization of the people of Mthwakazi, hoodwinking of the highest order.
Time has come for all of us to tell each other the truth. What kind of Mthwakazi do you want? One of devolution or acceptance by the Zanu regime? What if they strip you of that devolution or recognition? What kind of Mthwakazi does Chief Ndiweni want? Do we really know?
Is it not a fact that hundreds of thousands of Mthwakazi people died for the liberation of Zimbabwe? Did they know that they were dying for a monstrous prison that would devour all of them and their generations to come? Of course not.
Why? Because they were not fighting for liberation, but were fighting for ZAPU and Dr Nkomo. Period. Had they known they were fighting to be enslaved by Shona people in a larger Zimbabwe concentration camp, they would have changed course.
I myself have known Nhlanhlayamangwe long before he succeeded his father to the throne. I was privileged to attend his wedding to Florence Skhosana in Walthamstow, London many years back. I was even more privileged to have met his father, Chief Khayisa Ndiweni at Forest Hill, London, whom I presented with the MAGGEMM report (Mthwakazi Action Group on Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing against the people Matebeleland and Midlands) of which I was the author and published it in January 1998, in London.
It is view of the above that there can be no question that Nhlanhla is following on the footsteps of his father by struggling for a free Mthwakazi. However, the beast is in the detail. We need to know what kind of Mthwakazi he is all about. The same goes for all those who call themselves Mthwakazi this and that, including those who are hellbent on confusing our people to participate in a Zimbabwe election.
In the recent past we have seen how some of those contesting for the Kingship of Mthwakazi were so determined to be endorsed by their slave master, the Zimbabwean regime. All they want is simply to be given kingship by the slave master. Nothing else matters to them. No wonder therefore that even the comedian Chamisa promised them kingship.
Would such kingship stop the incarceration of people of Mthwakazi? Does it matter to Zanu? If it does, why has the same slave master incarcerated one of its chiefs, recognised by it, Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni? If for any reason those participating in a Zimbabwe election won a seat or two, would that stop the slave master, Zanu-pf from imprisoning them? Of course not. Why? Because its all about the rule by conquest.
Those who still do not understand power, please read Maphenduka's book, "Rule by Conquest: The Struggle in Mthwakazi". It is high time we all understood what power is all about. There is no friendship in power. It is about control and dominance, and subjugation if needs be. No person of Mthwakazi origin will ever get power by becoming a slave of the shona. Neither can power be achieved by making too much noise driven by emotions and insults. We must begin strategising without fear of favour.
Don't be fooled by those who say let's start a war, let them start it, but the fact is that the very same people will run away at the earliest opportunity. We have seen it in real life, no wonder the war veterans of ZIPRA would rather settle for the few shillings that the slave master gives them as if it were meat bones given to dogs every month.
Look at South Africa. It is free today because its people fought a smart war. The bloodshed was not on the scale of creating a Zimbabwe concentration camp for the people of Mthwakazi. Imagine fighting and dying only to be given a constitution by your slave master (the white people) to be again enslaved, this time by the Shona people.
In order to free Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni and everybody else, including all of us as the people of Mthwakazi, I propose we do the following:
1) establish as a matter of urgency, I mean now, a Defence Fund that would use every available legal instruments within that country and internationally to free him and all the others languishing in Zimbabwe's little prisons, as well as Zimbabwe itself as large concentration camp for the people of Mthwakazi;
2) We convene a Constitutional Conference for Mthwakazi in Bulawayo as soon as possible, so that once resolutions are adopted, we embark on a sustained Defiance Campaign against all laws of our slave master;
3) All Mthwakazi movements, including those two-faced ones to be compelled to sign a Declaration of Unity regarding the kind or type of Mthwakazi that we seek to establish;
4) Once the Constitution for Mthwakazi has been adopted, we move quickly to establish a Government in Mthwakazi and ensure that our slave masters are removed from our country with all means necessary,
5) Establish a Mthwakazi Sovereign Fund (MSF) that will deal with the determination of liabilities with Zimbabwe, rapid infrastructural development, new curriculum for and construction of schools, hospitals, clinics, and so forth, and last, but not least;
6) establish as soon as the Constitution for Mthwakazi has been adopted, police, intelligence and defence units for Mthwakazi to ensure that the sovereignty of the country, including its airspace and wildlife are protected.
It is important to recognise that it is strategies like these that can go a long way in channeling our anger and repulsion into something tangible and achievable like a liberated Mthwakazi. Anger alone and emtions will not take us far, as the slave master will never stop humiliating us as they have demonstrated in the case of Nhlanhla.
There are many more without names, that are not known by you and me, but just like Chief Ndiweni have been humiliated on a daily basis with absolute impunity. It is therefore in this regard that we who can still breathe, especially outside the Zimbabwe concentration camp, that can contribute positively to secure the release of Nhlanhla and thousands of others, and to ensure that they are not only freed but are liberated together with all of us in days ahead.
Just like the rallying cry around Nelson Mandela when he was incarcerated, let us all rally behind the free Chief Ndiweni campaign, not only with insults against our slave masters, but with resources (money never mind how little) in order to ensure that he is released without any harm.
Failure to do this as a people will actually show that we are not made of the real stuff of what constitutes a Mthwakazi citizen.
Remember, we have been here before, when not long ago Mthwakazi compatriots, John Gazi, Charles Gumbo and Paul Siwela were incarcerated on charges of treason against our slave master. Then we were caught wanting as it was difficult to raise bail set at $2,000 United States dollars each. Me and you could be next in line, this is why it is absolutely critical that we rise above water and fund raise for this just cause.
We are on our own and the world will recognise the struggle for Mthwakazi's self-determination if we demonstrate that we are ready to govern ourselves. We can only do that by adopting a vision and mission statement in the form of a Constitution for the Federal Republic of Mthwakazi. The ANC did it with the Freedom Charter which was adopted 64 years ago in1955. It is still the vision today as it was then for the people of South Africa.
Finally and most importantly, such a Constitution shall not belong to a political organisation, movement or party, but a vision for the people of Mthwakazi.
In conclusion, therefore, I would like request the adminstrator of this group to move quickly to set up a Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Khayisa Ndiweni Release Campaign Fund. Over and above that, a lot can be done by reaching out to international organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Group on Disappeared Persons, United Nations, and others in order to internationalise the plight of all the people of Mthwakazi.
I thank you. This contribution was compiled by Dr Mpiyesizwe Churchill Guduza, President of Mthwakazi Liberation Front.
Below, I have posted out vision as MLF for Mthwakazi and I challenge all those claiming to be Mthwakazi political organisations, movements or parties to do the same.
Once again we have been caught wanting and unprepared by his incarceration. Many more before him were violated, degraded and humiliated before our very eyes as the people of Mthwakazi. Our response to such tragedies, has always been the same, ranting with unfocused emotions and insults. The results have been the same, the continued rule by conquest over the people of Mthwakazi.
Today, Chief Ndiweni joins thousands and millions of other people of Mthwakazi languishing not only at Khami Prison but throughout the wider Zimbabwean prison. There can be no question therefore that Zimbabwe is but just a concentration camp for all the people of Mthwakazi.
It is the same prison that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives throughout its fourty year history, either through genocide, ethnic cleansing, incarceration at its smaller unit prisons like Khami, Wha-wha, Goromonzi, Chikurubi and others. The likes of Dabengwa, Lookout Masuku, and many others could not escape this prision. Even the dead of Mthwakazi, all of whom still require a decent burial are buried in that Zimbabwe prison.
Are you not shocked therefore to discover that for many years under the leadership of Dr Nkomo, both ZAPU and ZIPRA fought not for the liberation of Mthwakazi, but for the establishment and creation of a monster prison called Zimbabwe that would devour all the people of Mthwakazi without mercy. Not only that, with an army ZIPRA which was second to none in the whole of Southern Africa, ZAPU, for whatever reasons gave up that power in order for its people to be enslaved in a larger Zimbabwe prison.
Today, just like ZAPU there are those who are two-faced. On the one hand they want to be recognised by the Zimbabwe killers and jailers for participating in the Zimbabwean elections. On the other hand they claim to be championing the struggle for Mthwakazi. Shame on them.
How do you participate in your own slavery and at the same time claim to be championing your own freedom from slavery? Is history repeating itself. Was it not ZAPU that was chased out of the so-called Government of National Unity, and then had most of its leaders in that government incarcerated by Emerson Mnangagwa as Minister for Security? When Nkomo was nearly killed and survived only by fleeing Zimbabwe in March 1983, was he not a minister in that government? When Jean Ntutha was gunned down at his Mguza farm during the same year, was he not a Minister of Energy?
What difference would participating in the Zimbabwe elections by these two-faced pretenders make? Under which Constitution would they swear allegiance to? A Zimbabwean Constitution or Mthwakazi Constitution? What a joke, fake politicization of the people of Mthwakazi, hoodwinking of the highest order.
Time has come for all of us to tell each other the truth. What kind of Mthwakazi do you want? One of devolution or acceptance by the Zanu regime? What if they strip you of that devolution or recognition? What kind of Mthwakazi does Chief Ndiweni want? Do we really know?
Is it not a fact that hundreds of thousands of Mthwakazi people died for the liberation of Zimbabwe? Did they know that they were dying for a monstrous prison that would devour all of them and their generations to come? Of course not.
Why? Because they were not fighting for liberation, but were fighting for ZAPU and Dr Nkomo. Period. Had they known they were fighting to be enslaved by Shona people in a larger Zimbabwe concentration camp, they would have changed course.
I myself have known Nhlanhlayamangwe long before he succeeded his father to the throne. I was privileged to attend his wedding to Florence Skhosana in Walthamstow, London many years back. I was even more privileged to have met his father, Chief Khayisa Ndiweni at Forest Hill, London, whom I presented with the MAGGEMM report (Mthwakazi Action Group on Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing against the people Matebeleland and Midlands) of which I was the author and published it in January 1998, in London.
It is view of the above that there can be no question that Nhlanhla is following on the footsteps of his father by struggling for a free Mthwakazi. However, the beast is in the detail. We need to know what kind of Mthwakazi he is all about. The same goes for all those who call themselves Mthwakazi this and that, including those who are hellbent on confusing our people to participate in a Zimbabwe election.
In the recent past we have seen how some of those contesting for the Kingship of Mthwakazi were so determined to be endorsed by their slave master, the Zimbabwean regime. All they want is simply to be given kingship by the slave master. Nothing else matters to them. No wonder therefore that even the comedian Chamisa promised them kingship.
Would such kingship stop the incarceration of people of Mthwakazi? Does it matter to Zanu? If it does, why has the same slave master incarcerated one of its chiefs, recognised by it, Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni? If for any reason those participating in a Zimbabwe election won a seat or two, would that stop the slave master, Zanu-pf from imprisoning them? Of course not. Why? Because its all about the rule by conquest.
Don't be fooled by those who say let's start a war, let them start it, but the fact is that the very same people will run away at the earliest opportunity. We have seen it in real life, no wonder the war veterans of ZIPRA would rather settle for the few shillings that the slave master gives them as if it were meat bones given to dogs every month.
Look at South Africa. It is free today because its people fought a smart war. The bloodshed was not on the scale of creating a Zimbabwe concentration camp for the people of Mthwakazi. Imagine fighting and dying only to be given a constitution by your slave master (the white people) to be again enslaved, this time by the Shona people.
In order to free Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni and everybody else, including all of us as the people of Mthwakazi, I propose we do the following:
1) establish as a matter of urgency, I mean now, a Defence Fund that would use every available legal instruments within that country and internationally to free him and all the others languishing in Zimbabwe's little prisons, as well as Zimbabwe itself as large concentration camp for the people of Mthwakazi;
2) We convene a Constitutional Conference for Mthwakazi in Bulawayo as soon as possible, so that once resolutions are adopted, we embark on a sustained Defiance Campaign against all laws of our slave master;
3) All Mthwakazi movements, including those two-faced ones to be compelled to sign a Declaration of Unity regarding the kind or type of Mthwakazi that we seek to establish;
4) Once the Constitution for Mthwakazi has been adopted, we move quickly to establish a Government in Mthwakazi and ensure that our slave masters are removed from our country with all means necessary,
5) Establish a Mthwakazi Sovereign Fund (MSF) that will deal with the determination of liabilities with Zimbabwe, rapid infrastructural development, new curriculum for and construction of schools, hospitals, clinics, and so forth, and last, but not least;
6) establish as soon as the Constitution for Mthwakazi has been adopted, police, intelligence and defence units for Mthwakazi to ensure that the sovereignty of the country, including its airspace and wildlife are protected.
It is important to recognise that it is strategies like these that can go a long way in channeling our anger and repulsion into something tangible and achievable like a liberated Mthwakazi. Anger alone and emtions will not take us far, as the slave master will never stop humiliating us as they have demonstrated in the case of Nhlanhla.
There are many more without names, that are not known by you and me, but just like Chief Ndiweni have been humiliated on a daily basis with absolute impunity. It is therefore in this regard that we who can still breathe, especially outside the Zimbabwe concentration camp, that can contribute positively to secure the release of Nhlanhla and thousands of others, and to ensure that they are not only freed but are liberated together with all of us in days ahead.
Just like the rallying cry around Nelson Mandela when he was incarcerated, let us all rally behind the free Chief Ndiweni campaign, not only with insults against our slave masters, but with resources (money never mind how little) in order to ensure that he is released without any harm.
Failure to do this as a people will actually show that we are not made of the real stuff of what constitutes a Mthwakazi citizen.
Remember, we have been here before, when not long ago Mthwakazi compatriots, John Gazi, Charles Gumbo and Paul Siwela were incarcerated on charges of treason against our slave master. Then we were caught wanting as it was difficult to raise bail set at $2,000 United States dollars each. Me and you could be next in line, this is why it is absolutely critical that we rise above water and fund raise for this just cause.
We are on our own and the world will recognise the struggle for Mthwakazi's self-determination if we demonstrate that we are ready to govern ourselves. We can only do that by adopting a vision and mission statement in the form of a Constitution for the Federal Republic of Mthwakazi. The ANC did it with the Freedom Charter which was adopted 64 years ago in1955. It is still the vision today as it was then for the people of South Africa.
Finally and most importantly, such a Constitution shall not belong to a political organisation, movement or party, but a vision for the people of Mthwakazi.
In conclusion, therefore, I would like request the adminstrator of this group to move quickly to set up a Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Khayisa Ndiweni Release Campaign Fund. Over and above that, a lot can be done by reaching out to international organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Group on Disappeared Persons, United Nations, and others in order to internationalise the plight of all the people of Mthwakazi.
I thank you. This contribution was compiled by Dr Mpiyesizwe Churchill Guduza, President of Mthwakazi Liberation Front.
Below, I have posted out vision as MLF for Mthwakazi and I challenge all those claiming to be Mthwakazi political organisations, movements or parties to do the same.
Source - Thulani Nkala
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
